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The Empire
The Empire is the single largest nation on the planet, composed of a multitude of races. If a race exists, chances are you can find them in The Empire. Though the two races that call The Empire their main home are the Humans and the Elves. They say that The Empire is so vast that both the moon, and the sun can be seen at all times from within The Empire's lands. Founding Arcturus Mengsk was the perfect man, nay the only man who could pull off a stunt like forming The Empire. Arcturus held a grudge, a deep grudge against the people who killed his family, and wiped out all the old families. After just fighting a war for those same people, he was going to use the tools they gave him to bring them down (See Arcturus Mengsk for more info.). Using his fame, and funding it with his prospecting money, Arcturus started a revolution. It was one of the best uses of propaganda ever used before. Arcturus railed against the Confederacy of Man's crimes of the Eldilian purge. He called a grievous affront against humanity itself, that this corrupt Confederacy would kill so many civilians for no good reason. He said it was an example of how they are willing to kill anyone who gets in their way, and can't even protect their own people. He abused them for dragging the people into a war that it wasn't interested in, and sent many a young man, many a son, many a father to his death over wood and stone. Arcturus was persuasive and able to turn public opinion in his favor. He pulled many a person to his cause, to his group of revolutionaries known as the Son's of Korhal, named after the town the Confederacy killed all the old families in. The revolution was bloody, and long. But with Arcturus's knowledge of how to sway public opinion, his fighting and strategic abilities gained from the Guild Wars, the revolution was a success, and the Confederacy of Man fell, and in it's place, Arcturus's revolutionaries took control. The Sons continued to grow, and began to create for themselves a nation, trying to establish government, work, and provide food and resources to their people. This jeopardized Arcturus's control. He knew soon enough they would have a elected representative government and he would have to step down from his position of power. If he didn't he'd be branded just as bad as the people they overthrew, but Arcturus had no intention of loosing his hard-fought power. Secretly, Arcturus met with the Elves who at the time were one of the largest nations, and they were not very far from the land of the Son's of Korhal. Arcturus's charisma shown again as he convinced the Elves to combine forces to create something greater than the individuals. Revealing this to the people, Arcturus found it easy to sway the public opinion yet again. They already loved him, not they would adore him. He helped them go from a band of rabble revolutionaries fighting a hopeless battle against the establishment, to now one of the greatest nations on earth. The benefits of unifying with the Elves were countless, but none as important as the protection and respect they gained. Who would dare fighting against such a combination of forces? No longer the Son's of Korhal, or the Elve's Nation, they took the name of The Empire, inviting all nations to join them and unify the world under one helm, under one empire, under The Empire. And with that the nation that rocked the world was born. Arcturus volunteered 'take the burden' of leadership for The Empire's infancy, but declared that he didn't want it, and to make sure that this stay's the people's Empire, he demanded that a Senate be set up to guide him and keep the position of Emperor in check. No one was better at deception than Arcturus, some say he even deceived himself into thinking he was a good person. But his motivations did not come from a desire to help people, it came out of revenge and greed. \When The Empire stretched it's borders sometimes it was through forceful invasion, and other times when they'd come across another civilization they would join them of their own accord. It was in this way that many nations, such as the Kobolds came to join the empire. More often than not it is through this second method that The Empire grew, though there are some exceptions. Territorial Expansion =Catfolk Enslavement= When The Empire's territory surrounded that of the Catfolks the Empire was already in a position of great strength. While Arcturus desired their land, he desired something more. The Empire was missing something that it seriously needed - a cheap labor force. So instead of trying to parlay and annex the Catfolks, Arcturus mounted an invasion of the Catfolk's lands, planning to enslave them. The Catfolk fell with minimal losses on The Empire's side, as their armaments and fighting methods were archaic, and they were not a unified force as they were living in separate nations like the Native Americans in our world, and had no powerful allies. But The Empire made sure to also avoid casualties on the Catfolk's side in order to get as many survivors for the slave trade as possible. Catfolks are physically strong, but not overwhelmingly so, making them good options for manual labor slaves. Female Catfolk can only be impregnated by male Catfolk so they found themselves often being sold into the sex slave trade. Male Catfolk are 'larger' and have more 'stamina' then their human counterparts, so they too were prime candidates for sex slavery. Due to this, those Catfolk who gain freedom often find themselves turning to prostitution to make enough money to get by. The Empire made a lot of money selling the Catfolk to the people of The Empire, and this war was very very profitable for them in both gold and land. And who could measure the positive effect slave labor has had on The Empire. The Catfolk's homeland was enfolded into the territories of The Empire and it continued to expand. The Catfolk are subject to a great amount of racism. =Desire for the Land of the Dwarves= See Dwarven Trade Guilds for more info. =Acquisition of the Kingdom of the Giants= See Kingdom of the Giants for more info. =Acquisition of Southern Islands= The Empire's expansion to the South ended at the ocean, but Arcturus had always wanted to push down to the South when he had secured the already existing borders of The Empire from the Orcish Horde, Giants, and Dwarves. But after the death of emperor Valerian Mengsk, taking the Southern Islands became top priority for The Empire, and they waged an all out war on the Southern Islands (See Valerian Mengsk (Guy Montag) for more info.). But it was not a conventional war. The Empire wanted to make an example out of the Southern Islands to discourage any further attempts on the lives of it's emperors, and teach other nations that crossing The Empire would come with severe consequences. In order to make an example out of them they wanted to do several things: #Defeat the armies of the Southern Islands with an overwhelming force #Make a display of their defeat #Take no prisoners and leave no survivors, not even women or children #Completely scorch the land, leaving nothing on the surface but ashes So to say they waged war would not be entirety correct, instead they committed a massacre. Bringing far more military might than was necessary to bear, The Empire waged a naval battle to serve as a distraction, then brought their newly acquired Giants to bear. They had cast a breathe underwater spell on them and had them walk along the ocean floor to the Islands. The naval fleet of the Southern Islands were so distracted by their naval battle, that by the time they noticed the Giants it was too late. The Island's navy was now flanked and took heavy losses, allowing the transport ships that contained a Clockwork army to make landfall. From the land the Clockwork army began to do battle with the land defenses of the Islands. Once the land defenses were sufficiently dealt with, the Undead Dragon Riders came and began burning the Islands' cities and lands to the ground. For weeks all that could be found on the Islands were dragons spraying fiery death from above, and Clockwork soldiers patrolling the ashes for survivors. Though this would make their point, completely annihilation the Southern Islands did have some negative consequences. #Loss of strategic resources including lumber, food, farms, and cities #Loss of workable land #Loss of skilled laborers Currently The Empire occupies the Islands for their mines (the mines survived the war since it was only the surface that was scorched beyond repair). They provide some relief from the monopoly the Dwarven Trade Guilds have on such products. The Empire also uses the Islands as military bases, since they are in a good strategic location, and the military force there deters anyone from attempting to raid the mines. Government =Emperor= The Emperor is arguably the single most powerful person in the entire world. He serves a life term and is the face of The Empire. Responsibilities *Foreign Policy *Commander of Military *Enforce Laws *Protect Citizens Past Emperors: Arcturus Mengsk, Valerian Mengsk, Edmund Duke =Senate= The Senate is a group of individuals elected by The Empire's citizens from among it's citizens. Responsibilities *Domestic Policy *Create Laws *Elect Emperor *Recall Emperor =Citizenship= Citizenship is difficult to get, but comes with many benefits. Benefits *Elect Senate *Can run for Senate *Can Attend and Speak at Senate Meetings *Increased Access to the Palace *Easier Travel Throughout The Empire's Territory *Can Achieve Higher Position in Military How to Gain Citizenship - (Must have residency in addition to each of the below) *Be born to a Citizen (who has been one for at least 10 years), register, and pay a fine *Serve in the Military for Two Tours *Serve in the Fire Department for 10-years Life in The Empire If you are of the core races your life is good. Those of less common races find acceptance, but are not embraced as much. Only two races in particular are shunned. Those who are Orcs find themselves very unwelcome, and that doesn't cause much of a problem as there are very few Orcs would ever want to live in The Empire. Catfolks are slaves, and free Cats find themselves inundated with heavy racism and classicism. Poverty is not found widely, though there are definitely sections in the bigger cities, as can be expected in any large city, and thus Korhal has sections of the very poor and has some destitute. There are programs for these people but these have fallen off since the death of Juliana (see Arcturus Mengsk for more info.). Under Valerian's reign, several programs were put in place and bolstered and poverty was nearly completely quenched in Korhal and was reduced in other parts of The Empire, though it took several years (see Valerian Mengsk (Guy Montag) for more info.). It was said that as long as Valerian reigned no one had want for bread in the entire Empire. Everyone from laborers to skilled artisans can find work in the Empire, as it's ever expanding and more and more jobs are thus created. If you need something you can bet that you'll be able to find someone selling it somewhere in The Empire. One could choose to have a simple life of the working man, or the exciting life of an adventurer in it's lands and find success and happiness for all their days. War with the Orcish Horde As the Orcish Horde began expanding more and more many nations took notice. The Empire, being the closest became very concerned. With little debate Arcturus preemptively declared war in an attempt to maximize on the Horde's divided attention, as they were expanding on multiple fronts at once. The Empire underestimated the fighting capabilities of the Horde and their blitzkrieg warfare failed rather miserably. With the surprise gone, the Horde turned many of it's resources towards The Empire front. After several years the Horde has reduced the number of fronts they are waging war on, and with each front closed came another conquered race included into the Horde, and thus more and more varied troops to send at The Empire. This helps the Horde immensely as every time The Empire learns to fight against the Horde's tactics, new races and tactics are encountered. Though The Empire has advantages of their own, namely the Giants Arcturus gained for his armies (see Kingdom of the Giants for more info.), and the Undead Dragon Riders. Little is known how Arcturus found these revolting creatures, or what price he pays for their services, but few question what has been so beneficial. The Dragon Riders lend their services, for a price, and have turned the tide of many a battle in favor of The Empire. Some say that without the Riders the war would have been lost long ago. Under Valerian Clockwork armies have been used against the Horde. At first this swung the tides of the war greatly in favor of The Empire, as missions which would result in catastrophic losses, but strategic gains, can now be undertaken. But the Horde knows only war from a young age, and they will not be defeated so easily. Though the Horde has been put in the defensive, and have been slowly being pushed back into their territory, and continue to do so under Duke. With Duke's addition of a wider variety of Clockwork soldiers, it is expected that the war will end in victory for The Empire within his lifetime, with minimal loss of lives due to the Clockworks. That was, until reports came in that the Horde has a new warchief.